Germantown woman convicted of prostituting daughter

Mom could get 100 years in prison

A Montgomery County jury found a Germantown woman guilty Thursday of prostituting her daughter to help pay off a debt.

The woman, who The Gazette is not identifying to protect the identity of the daughter, was charged with crimes including rape, child abuse, prostitution, human trafficking, and other charges.

During the trial, jurors learned that the abuse occurred in two separate incidents at the Georgian Colonies Club House in Silver Spring. The first event took place December 2012 and the second took place in March 2013.

Prosecutors said in court that Bejarni Rivas, 45, of Irish Court in Gaithersburg raped the girl, who is now 15 but was 14 when the first incident occurred, then gave her $100. He also gave her mother a wad of bills afterward, the victim testified.

The woman could receive more than 100 years in prison at her sentencing, which is scheduled for early November.

The mom argued during the trail that she was innocent of the charges. Theresa Chernosky, her public defender, had argued that the accusations were baseless, and that the victim had created them because she believed her mother was too strict.